ITALIAN FLEET DIVISION

Chronicle (Levin), 29 April 1946, Page 5

ITALIAN FLEET DIVISION

FOUR BIG POWERS TO SHARE EQUALLY Eeceived Stinday, 7 p.m. LONDvjN, April 27. It is learned authoritativeiy that the Foreign Ministers' Conference, after a ! three-hour discussion today, agreed to J divide the Italian fleet equally among ! the Four Big Fowers after the Greek an.i j Yugoslav claims were -satisfled, repOr. 1 news agency correspondents from Jfaris j Italy will he left with a small navy j with possihly four heavy cruisers. The Ameriean Associated Press cor ! respondent says a moditication oi I Russia 's demand for a third of the Italian navy, was apparently in return ' for a tacit agreement to forget about the ships Britain and America gave Rnssia in anticipation of dividing the ; italian fleet. Mr. Bevin insisted strongly that one. 1 Italian cruiser should be given' Greece i in compensation for the Greek cr'iuse. Hellas sunk hy an italian submar'ine j before the oufbreak of war between j italy and Greece. He also urged that j italy' s submarine fleet should be scuttled except for a few sxibmarines to be kept "by the Allies for experiinentai jpurposes. The conference deeided to set up a committee of naval experts who would 1 hrstly examine the available Italian , tonnage; secondly, after the limitation jof Italy' s peacetime fleet agreed on at ; the peace conference, consider the | claims of Greece and Yugoslavia and j allocate ships to meet them; thirdly, divide the remainder among Britain, i America, Russia and France.